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Meet Bush's Judge Walton
By W. David Jenkins III
There are simply too many dots! I’m not kidding around here. I’ve
been through a carton of marking pens and a case and a half of extra strength
Excedrin following the trail from the Sibel Edmonds case to Plame to Libby to
the NSA to the Whistleblowers Coalition to
Speaking of Limbaugh, his recent slam of Ms. Edmonds and fellow
whistleblower, Russell Tice, prompted me to congratulate Sibel the last time we
talked. “They must be worried if they’re calling out the right wing radio
mouths,” I told her. However, Rove and Co. may want folks like Rush to shut up
about
And now, true to their sleazy ways of doing “business as usual” as
Walton is the judge who will not only be presiding over the Libby case,
but he has also been “randomly
assigned” to Edmonds’ Federal Tort Claim after having upheld her
ridiculous gag order imposed by former attorney general, John Ashcroft. I call
the gag order ridiculous because technically
Very little is known about Walton and it would seem that there are those, including Walton, who would just assume keep it that way. But what little is known should be enough to set off all kinds of bells and whistles, beginning with his long history with the Bush gang.
Eight years after becoming a judge on the D.C. circuit, Walton was introduced to Bush the First’s “drug czar”, Bill (the Gambler) Bennett, who asked him to be his number two guy eight weeks later. Walton accepted the offer and began racking up frequent flyer miles to spread the word on Bush’s war on drugs. Two years after that, he became Bush’s senior White House advisor on crime and was then reappointed to the D.C. circuit. After that, things get fuzzy again.
In
fact, even the DOJ web site has very little listed about this guy. A press
release here, a press release there, but that’s about it. I found he did
overrule a stay on bear hunting in
One
would think that someone with such important connections would have an Internet
history or any recorded history a tad more interesting than this. I mean, think
about it; this is the guy you want to send the Libby case and
Some
may remember the hoopla over alleged connections between the
The suit was dismissed in July of 2002 on a technicality. The presiding judge in the decision was none other than Reggie Walton.
Strangely
enough, Judicial Watch recently requested and was granted through the FOIA the
financial disclosures of federal judges including Walton from the year 2003.
Now, if you go to read Walton’s disclosure, you will notice that somebody went
wild with one of those black magic markers that have become so popular in
DeeCeeVille the last five years or so. In other words, Walton’s 2003 financial
disclosure record is completely redacted. And I mean everything.
Subsequently, Professor William Weaver, Senior Legal Advisor for the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) recently filed a request on Walton's redacted background. Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the NSWBC.
So to quickly sum up, we have a judge with little background available, with long ties to the Bush’s, who someone doesn’t want the public to know his financial dealings, who has denied requests for domestic intelligence records (at least once), who has now been mysteriously “randomly assigned” to not only hear Edmonds’ FTC case, but is also assigned to a case regarding a senior White House official with whom this judge and the defendant worked with the White House at the same time, albeit in different capacities. Have we flunked the infamous Dan Burton “smell test” yet?
Now, let’s do some of those notorious dots, shall we? A small sampling of coincidences (a term which the past actions of this administration prevent me from believing applies to these criminals) suggests how tangled things are lately.
Walton
gets “randomly” assigned to
From
February 2003 to April 2004, Walton repeatedly scheduled and postponed hearings
in the
These would also be the same targets that are alleged to have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Republican Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. But as hard as it can be, let’s not lose focus here.
As
Sibel
Edmonds testified to all of this and more in a closed session with the Philip
Zelikow led 9/11 Commission. Obviously, her testimony was considered too
controversial as the Commission completely omitted the information from their
final report. Now, the Bush administration has again called on the shadowy Judge
Walton to insure that the truth regarding
Judge
Walton demands much more attention than he’s been given. The mainstream media
is obviously oblivious to the effect he will have on the outcome of both the
After
all these years, there are still far too few Americans who realize that the war
on terror is being “selectively waged” as
And Judge Walton is the administration’s insurance policy which will allow them to maintain “business as usual.” --posted Jan. 29, 2006
God Rest Ye Merry Torturers
By W. David Jenkins III
The snow finally arrived in my little conservative pot-hole in upstate New York . As much as I detest winter and the cold,
there’s something incomparably peaceful about a late December night as the snow falls. The quiet is so intense that
you can almost hear the flakes touch the ground. The only thing breaking the silence is the sound of the chains of a lone
snow plow in the distance or, if the hour is early enough, the bells of one of three churches in my neighborhood chiming a
Christmas carol. It’s kind of Norman Rockwell when you get right down to it. But there’s a problem.
Rewriting
History? You Must be Joking, George! By
W. David Jenkins III
“While
it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it
is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began”. – Bush "It's
slime and defend," said one Republican aide on Capitol Hill, describing the
White House's effort to raise questions about Mr. Wilson's motivations and its
simultaneous effort to shore up support in the Republican ranks. "So far so
good," the aide said. "There's nervousness on the part of the party
leadership, but no defections in the sense of calling for an independent
counsel."
Well, we can see that not much has changed over the years. Just when we
think this administration has tested the audacity meter to the extreme, they
surprise everybody and push it even further. I wonder how many others are
convinced that these people are so far within that stew of their own making they
wouldn’t recognize reality if it smacked them over the head like a iron
skillet.
What should have been a day to honor and recognize those who have served
this country turned into yet another attempt at gross manipulation by the Bush
administration of not only the military, but the American people who wanted only
to honor their service – starting with the laying of the wreath at the Tomb of
the Unknown Soldier.
To
witness Vice President Marquis de Cheney, the leading administrative advocate
for torture placing the wreath at the Tomb was just too much for this particular
patriot to bear. Yet, it was only the first slimy slap at the military that
would take place this Veterans’ Day. And there would be more – much more.
Later
that day – and in the days following – Bush would resort to quoting what
resembled some tired old forwarded e-mail the Republicans (and their brethren)
have been circulating for quite some time. Well, at least since everything went
completely wrong in Pity
poor King George. The miserable failure can’t even get a decent poll number
out of Fox (37% approval) or The Wall Street Journal (35%). To make matters
worse, there are members of Bush’s own party who are quite perturbed with him
when it comes to all matters The
main push by these criminals is to claim that “everyone saw the same
intelligence that we did.” Bush even likes to point out that he had the same
intelligence that And
when considering the task of the Office of Special Plans, we find the claim that
everyone had access to the same intelligence as the White House is simply
ludicrous. Here was a shadow operation set up by Rumsfeld and Feith and run by
ideological amateurs in a clandestine attempt to “tweak” real intelligence
reports on Members
of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG) were well aware that intelligence coming
out of How
interesting that those who rewrote intelligence are now accusing their critics
of rewriting history.
The
fact still remains, however, that the reasons we are currently hearing from the
administration and their supporters for continuing to “stay the course” in Congressman
John Murtha (D-PA), who has served in the House for
over three decades and is senior Democrat and former chairman of the Defense
Appropriations Committee, has decided we need to buy a new carton of
milk. Murtha was the latest player in DeeCeeVille to jam a stick into the
hornets nest when he called for a different approach in Qualifying
Murtha’s remarks are not only his extensive military background, but the fact
that he has recently been to Murtha
joins the ranks of Gen. Eric Shinseki, Scott Ritter, former Gen. Janice
Karpinski, Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, Max Cleland, John Kerry, John McCain and
other members of the military who have been assaulted by the Bush Camp for
daring not to pat the president on the head saying, “good boy.” This
repulsive behavior by the administration is another part of the history that they are attempting to rewrite.
Face
it, folks, as far as these war criminals are concerned, the military – like
9/11 – is little more than a
useful prop. Whether they are boots on the ground or a television backdrop in
fatigues, the military mean little more to these WHIG people than useful tools
allowing them to pursue a misguided philosophy of global dominance. And while
the bodies continue to fall or return home maimed beyond recognition, the only
defense the administration can muster up in the face of plummeting approval
ratings and support of this debacle is to attack the patriotism of their critics
and accuse them of rewriting history. Interesting enough perspective on their
part, especially when one can plainly see that
it is they who need a history lesson.
“He has not
developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass
destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his
neighbors.”
That was Colin Powell on “We are able to keep arms from him. His
military forces have not been rebuilt.”
That remark came from Condoleezza Rice on But
we know from former White House officials that Bush and the WHIG were
predetermined to take out Hussein even before they entered the White House. And
we also know that in the wake of 9/11, the same people were desperate to tie We
also know from the Downing Street Memos that “Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by
the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being
fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no
enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was
little discussion in And
the list goes on and on. The infamous “sixteen words” in the 2003 State of
the This
administration has a history of attacking their critics on any level, be it
personal or professional. They are capable of unleashing such a coordinated
firestorm of vitriol against their enemies in what is usually a successful
tactic allowing them to escape accountability one more time. And they are doing
now what they have always done when caught with their political pants down –
they spin, lie, stone-wall and cover up.
That’s
what they did with 9/11, Valerie Wilson, the Energy Task Force, ties to Enron,
Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, Operation Able Danger, Sibel Edmonds, Campaigns 2000
and 2004, Rendition and Torture, Cindy Sheehan, the Information
Awareness Office, Patriot Act abuses, Guckert/Gannon, Katrina, Bunnatine
(Bunny) Greenhouse, Halliburton, the Downing Street
Memos and, of course, Iraq and the suppression of intelligence that did not fit
their criteria. That’s
quite a list and I’m certain I’ve missed a few examples but when you look
back on all of these episodes, you have to wonder how it’s possible that
almost a third of the country can still support this administration?
What
else would explain how anyone can look upon Cheney in his tuxedo in front of a
conservative audience or Bush posing in front of another military backdrop,
accusing anyone of rewriting history, knowing what is known, without seeing them
as a joke? Think about it. This
administration is in overdrive trying to make people forget that they claimed
there were ties between al Qaeda and Hussein (thus “linking” 9/11 to So
let’s think for a second, kids. Exactly who is trying to rewrite history here? --posted November 28, 2005 By W. David Jenkins III Bullwinkle: “Hey,
Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat!” Rocky: “But
that trick NEVER works!” Bullwinkle: “This
time for SURE!!”
Seriously, how many times have we heard ourselves talk like this? Think
back over the last five years or so. How many times did you say to yourself or a
conservative acquaintance, or see on a lefty bulletin board “This time we got the S.O.B.s!” And every single time, we were
let down or betrayed by those pretending to be the leaders of the opposition.
The Democrats backed down before the war and after “Mission Accomplished.”
They backed down from Abu Ghraib. They backed away from the Patriot Act. And
most Democrats continue to back away from the still unknown truth about 9/11
because they can’t admit to themselves that the official version is a crock. I
said it years ago and I’d like to
stop saying it now, but the Democrats have been easier on Bush than the
Republicans. They’ve behaved like sheep in wolf’s clothing.
Then came November One. Oh my.
I would really like to think that I’ve underestimated Harry Reid all
along. I’m sorry, but his conciliatory words about Justice Scalia, back when
he was being considered for the position of minority leader in the Senate, had
me thinking that Reid would be Daschle Lite. I figured Reid to be a perfect bend
over to the Republican roll over. Just more of the same. All I can say is that
after what I saw with my own eyes that Monday; Harry, you better be serious. You better have some bullets in those
six-guns you’re pointing.
I’m not sure who was angrier that afternoon – Frist, because he
wasn’t given the chance to stonewall the Democrats again or Reid, who was sick
and tired of being lied to and cajoled into behaving like a nobody by this
corrupt Republican party. Regardless, this was what I call real “reality
TV.” Not to mention, what do you bet that the closed session sounded like any
one of a hundred Jerry Springer shows?
Oh, to be a bug on a wall!
Reid and Company had better have the stamina for this fight. They’re
not going to have the cooperation of the media like Bush has had and they’re
going to have to fight ten times as hard. They’ll be attacked for having a
“hissy fit” or not being able to “move on” and of course, the old
Republican standby, they’re being “unpatriotic” or giving “comfort to
the enemy.” The thing is that in reality, it is the Republicans who are guilty
of those very offenses. Remember Frist outside the chambers afterward? Now that’s
what I call a hissy fit.
And would somebody please explain to me how protecting an administration
that lied to the country and the rest of the world in order to wage an
unnecessary and illegal war is patriotic? Or how about circling the wagons
around a Vice President who wants certain exemptions when it comes to torturing
prisoners – this is an American value?
Now due to the fact that it looks like some Democrats have been
developing vertebrae at risk, I would like to direct their attention to a couple
of “talking points” that might help Harry & Co. transform their
maturation into an actual party of effective opposition. Oh, and there’s more
than a few talking heads out there that might want to take notice as well. The
other night, in response to the Washington
Post story on “black sites” (American operated secret prisons), White
House communications director Dan Bartlett stated that “we do not believe in
torture in Bush
has never vetoed a bill – ever. But now we hear he will veto a $442 billion
defense spending bill if it contains language which bans the use of torture of
American held prisoners! Repeat after me; “We Support the Troops!”
Okay,
Harry, here’s one other little tidbit that someone might want to point out.
Remember back in June when Amnesty International referred to Now,
does anybody else see the irony in the fact that one of those above-mentioned
black sites is an old Soviet-era prison (ahem…gulag) in Okay,
Harry, I’ll make this one quick. Please keep an image of Harriet Meirs in your
head during Alito’s confirmation. I know it might be painful but, the right
wing is already using the old “fair up or down vote” nonsense and the
GOP’s favorite that the President “has the right to nominate anyone he
chooses.” We all know that after what these people did to Meirs that these
talking points are completely absurd and hypocritical. Don’t let them get away
with it.
Harry,
I have four words for you and anybody else who is confronted with the lame
excuse that our pre-war intelligence was faulty and I want you to memorize them
and I want to hear them repeated over and over. You ready?
Office of Special Plans!
Go
ahead and nail these people with this. It’s all documented — yet
consistently overlooked — but it is at the heart of this excuse of faulty
intelligence that Sen. Pat Roberts harped upon during his faulty
“investigation” last year. Created by Rumsfeld and Douglas Feith (where
is he anyway?), the OSP was to serve no other purpose except to “screen
and filter” actual intelligence into something else that would back up the
WHIG (White House Iraq Group) position in a concerted effort to bamboozle
Congress and the American people in order to gain their support for an invasion.
There it is – all nicely gift wrapped for you. Manipulating intelligence for
dummies. This is why Roberts and the Republicans and definitely the White House
have no desire to pursue Phase Two because OSP (with a special nod to Ahmed
Chalabi) was the nerve center of the lies put forth by WHIG.
*
* *
I can appreciate just how difficult it must be to wade through this
Republican swamp of corruption. They’ve had complete control for barely half
of a decade and have shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that not only can they
not handle such control, but that they never deserved to have it in the first
place. (See Campaigns 2000 and 2004)
But if the Democrats drop the ball this time then they have no one to
blame but themselves when the Republicans beat the tar out of them a year from
now. Bush’s numbers are at an all time low (35 percent approval) and as long
as Iraq remains this grotesque gash, this wound hemorrhaging completely over
anything he tries to do, then there is hope that the country and the media might
rally around a strong opposition. But the opposition must be not only strong –
it must be organized, consistent and above all, unified.
The crime and corruption of this Republican Party and this Republican
administration has never been so obvious nor has it ever received so much media
attention. But don’t think that bringing these people to justice is going to
be one of those “cake walks” we’ve heard about. There are fewer things
nastier than a cornered rattlesnake but that’s what the Democrats are up
against. This administration has much to lose and far too many skeletons that
must be kept hidden and they have a proven history of surviving political
poison. However, we are beginning to signs of vulnerability.
Listen up, Harry, we are tired of getting our hopes up only to have you
folks cave in. We are tired of witnessing the arrogant behavior, the hypocrisy
and the heartbreaking effects of the lies coming from these self-serving
abhorrents. We are tired of being your Bullwinkles vainly exclaiming “This time for sure!”
Circumstances have never been more in your favor, Harry. The platter has
never been more silver. The carpet has never been more red. Neither has the
blood, gushing from the White House. Never lose sight of that. For the sake of
the country you claim you serve and the truth you claim we deserve, don’t
screw this up. --posted Nov. 12, 2005 Behind
The Mushroom Cloud
“In today’s media, we
seem to bring on the liars in order to balance the truth”
-
NPR’s Bob Edwards June 2004
The news out of
It’s been a couple of days
now since Patrick Fitzgerald held his press conference in the aftermath of
“Scooter” Libby’s indictment and the conservative damage control machine
has shifted into high gear. All of a sudden, perjury is just a
“technicality” and obstruction of justice is much ado about nothing.
The
hypocrisy of the right wing apologists has become so blatant that it blindsides
the average viewer into the mistake of accepting that what happened two years
ago was just politics as usual. Conservative pundits are redirecting people with
the rationale that Rove’s dodging of a bullet (for now) somehow proves that
Fitzgerald’s investigation was just a waste of time. In true conservative
post-Katrina fashion, the right wing has gone into “blame the victim” mode
as they try to swerve people’s attention to the Wilson’s “obvious”
purely political motives in showing Americans that this administration lied to
the world in their desire to start a war.
Because Fitzgerald stated
that the investigation is not over just yet, it would seem that the conservative
faithful are jumping the gun here. Rove isn’t “in the clear” as some would
want us to believe and, to those who erroneously believe that nobody has been
charged with outing a CIA agent, they are missing the basis of Libby’s
indictment.
As Fitzgerald has pointed
out, it is due to Libby’s obstruction of justice and perjury that the
investigation into the senior White House sources who did out Valerie Wilson’s
status as an agent hit the snag that it did. And again, Fitzgerald has stated
that he’s not done yet. But along with cries of “criminalizing politics”,
we now have people like William Safire stating that this is just a “cover
up of a non crime.”
Y’know,
you have to give these people credit for such creativity. Their rationalizing
skills remind me of my six year old son with his arm in the cookie jar as he
explains why he wasn’t really sneaking cookies.
In the days and weeks to
come we will be treated with more of these explanations and redirections and, as
the above quote by Bob Edwards states, the media will bring on the liars in
order to balance the truth.
In 1917, California Senator,
Hiram W Johnson supposedly stated that "The first casualty when war comes is truth". Now, almost
a century later, the truth has been shown to be a pre-war casualty along with
those who would endeavor to show people the truth. And therein lies the much
overlooked issue that this investigation has shown to be as the modus
operandi of the most corrupt administration ever to inhabit the White House.
To put it simply, Bush and those who serve him have shown that they will do
whatever pleases them and that they will lie in order to achieve support for
those objectives. And, as this investigation has shown, they will set out to
destroy anyone who would dare to expose them and their lies and
they will lie should they be caught. This is what the American people must be
reminded of until it finally sinks in.
The invasion of
Yet, Bush apologists will
continue to equate the rising death toll in
What happened in Hallstead
and other communities across the country is due to leadership undeserving of the
loyalty of those they command. Bush and Cheney chose this fight and have always
been willing to sacrifice the blood of others – actual and metaphorical - for
their own selfish gain. The sad and tragic effects suffered by those who have
become victims of the drunken driver in the White House will scar this country
forever.
Much to our shame, the
“noble cause” which our brave military are dying for has been exposed as
nothing more than lies and the destruction of those who would expose those lies.
With all the chaos and cover up in Georgie, You’re Doing a Heck of a Job By
W. David Jenkins III
There has been much activity on the Internet the last few weeks regarding
the
In one instance, it seems that the Washington
Post felt enough pressure by angry readers who were outraged by the
paper’s burying the Downing Street story on page 18 two weeks after the news
broke in Nice work, gang. *
*
*
As important as the Downing Street Minutes and continued pressure on the
mainstream media are to revealing the truth to the nation, there is another
critically important story that
requires our attention and our action — and the clock is ticking away on this
one. We have only until the end of July to make a difference and perhaps turn
the course of history. Of course, I’m referring to Sibel Edmonds and, after my
conversations with her, I felt I should make an effort before time runs out and
her witness to significant governmental chicanery is suppressed by the
government forever.
On May 14, Edmonds published “Gagged,
But Not Dead” which can still be read on her website ( http://www.justacitizen.com/
) where she updates the reader on
the status of her case and the subsequent gag order placed not only on her but
also on members of Congress forbidding
even discussing matters relating to
her case!
Many of you may still be nauseous after being lectured to by the likes of
criminals such as G. Gordon Liddy and Chuck Coleson in the wake of Mark Felt
outing himself as “Deep Throat.” These ex-convicts, along with former
Nixonians like Pat Buchanan, ranted repeatedly that Felt should have followed
the “proper channels of authority” if he had had a problem with the
Watergate scandal rather than sneaking off to the Washington
Post. Sibel Edmonds is the perfect
example of why Felt did the right thing when he leaked to the Post:
those "proper channels of authority" in the Nixon administration were
corrupt. Those "proper channels" were active co-conspirators
themselves. However, the Nixon
administration's activities were simple child’s play compared to the practiced
corruption that rules the Bush II administration — and whistleblowers like
Edmonds, Colleen Rowley and others now know that. Hopefully for them and all of
us, there’s still time to correct the dismaying non-results their adherence to
following “proper channels” have produced. Edmonds testified for more than
three hours behind closed doors to the 9/11 Commission about, assumedly, her
concerns over breeches of security from within the FBI, specifically those of
fellow linguist Melek Can Dickerson, wife of USAF
Major Douglas Dickerson. There were also concerns of the FBI withholding
valuable information from field agents specializing in terrorism investigations
by unit supervisor Mike Feghali. The usual reasoning behind this practice is
that the information also contains references to “certain
countries” or “lucrative or
political connections with this country [U.S.]”In other words, if exposing
a targeted terrorist cell’s illegal activities would prove embarrassing to
either the “interests” of the United
States or one of our allies, then the matter is tucked away. These
and other concerns raised by Edmonds have been confirmed by the FBI — as
stated openly by Senators Patrick Leahy and Charles Grassley — and they were
also supported by documentation and corroborating witnesses. Yet, after more
than three hours of testimony before the Commission, Sibel Edmonds is barely a
footnote in the official 9/11 report. Edmonds submitted an open letter to the
Commission co-chairman, Thomas Kean, concerning the previously mentioned and
other omissions regarding the information she provided them. She noted how these
omissions are an ominous reflection on the final report, which in turn raises
questions of bias and inaccuracy on the report as a whole. How does
suppressing information that people within our own intelligence agencies have
continued connections with organizations currently targeted by FBI
investigations do anything to help strengthen our national security? Exactly
what are these high level officials so afraid of coming out? Unfortunately,
the unprecedented actions of the zealot-turned-Attorney General will keep all
those secrets locked away – unless we raise enough noise to change that. One
other thing that As in the case of the Downing
Street Documents, the majority of lawmakers and the mainstream media choose to
divert attention of the American population from the lies and cover-ups that
pass for “business as usual” in the Bush administration. It is only through
the efforts of concerned Americans in conjunction with the Internet Community
that our leaders and the media will finally be forced to take notice and assume
their responsibilities to those they purport to serve. As those of us who make up this
cyber grassroots community have witnessed, leaders such as Representative John
Conyers have expressed their gratitude for the efforts of bloggers and others
who kept the pressure on lawmakers and media members long enough for them to
take serious notice of the documentation showing the lies used by this White
House to devise and construct today's disaster in Iraq. But we need to remember that more
unreported information is out there concerning the alleged war on terror and
revealing the subversive actions by members of our own government to undermine
that conflict in order to protect business and diplomatic relations. And those
who would wish to expose this domestic threat to our national security are
gagged and/or threatened while the media ignore the whole world-shattering
situation because somebody disappeared on spring-break in Aruba and because
Michael Jackson threw a party and Tom Cruise and what’s-her-name got engaged. One of the things Sibel expressed
to me was the need for people to contact their representatives regarding her
case. As we have seen in the case of the I don’t normally do “calls for
action” in this venue but, with the clock ticking on legal recourse in the
case of Sibel Edmonds and the ramifications should her gag order remain in
effect indefinitely, I feel a responsibility to speak up. I urge everyone to take the time
to contact members of Congress and the media – before time runs out and the
administration gets away with silencing a very important voice. Please, please take the time and
do it now.
Additional
information and government contact numbers can be obtained from Sibel Edmonds’
web site http://www.justacitizen.com/index.htm Media
contact numbers and addresses can be found at FAIR’s web site http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=111
Conservatives: Exactly How Bad Do
Things Have to Get? By
W. David Jenkins III
“To announce that there
must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president
right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public.” —
Theodore
Roosevelt
There’s a scene that
takes place early on in Charles Dickens’ Oliver
Twist where, after finishing his daily ration of gruel, Oliver timidly asks
the master at the workhouse, "Please,
sir, I want some more." On a more
contemporary level, there’s a scene in the movie “Animal House” where frat pledge, Kevin Bacon, after receiving a
painful blow to his bent over backside says,
“Thank you, sir! May I have another?” Now, mix these two examples
together and you will have just a little bit more insight into what must be the
Bush lover’s psyche. The former being the need for emotional “sustenance”,
the latter representing the harsh reality of the situation.
The problem is, well,
they don’t realize exactly what they’re being served and they haven’t a
clue that they’re being whacked. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry
for ‘em . . . almost.
One of the things I
like to ask people who can still somehow support this administration is for them
to name just one thing that Bush has done that hasn’t ended up being a
complete disaster. Usually I get one of three responses: success in
The gruel being fed
to these folks is served on a daily basis by such sources as FNC, The Washington
Times, Newsmax and the loathsome Spank
No. 1:
So Laura Bush makes a
surprise visit to
Because her hubby
left
There are more cops
(for now) in You
conservatives remember all that “smoke ‘em out” mouthing off you bought
into a few years back? Guess what? It didn’t happen and guess what else? Not
only is Osama (remember him?) not in our custody but the Taliban isn’t gone
either. In fact, the
Taliban has been very busy recruiting new followers in northern And although
the Taliban is presently scarce in The Afghan
election was structured by the
The restructuring of Thank you,
sir! I want some more.” Spank
No. 2:
I’m not going to
spend a lot of time on the subject of
Bush and Co. had
designs on The only
thing to show for all the wreckage is a lopsided “election” that has changed
nothing and has been reduced to a political photo-op for Republicans – as they
were so eager to display at the State of the Union speech.
That’s Spank
No. 3: 9/11 and the lack of another attack
One would think that
because it’s been shown Bush has done very little to secure the U.S. since
9/11 — with the exception that now many federal airport screeners know what
our socks look like — and that we haven’t
been attacked in almost four years would raise more questions by any thinking
person than it has. But no one in power is asking why. In essence, like the
raised purple-stained fingers of January, 9/11 has been robbed of any meaning to
the Republican far right other than an “opportunity” to take all those
dubious plans they’ve had over the years off the shelf and try ‘em out on
the complacent masses which make up the media and other conservative followers.
Geo-political
dominance, unilateral foreign policies, unprovoked invasions and the dismantling
of domestic programs and civil liberties in order to further empower those with
too much wealth and authority already has been pursued and achieved as a kind of
sick response to what happened to this country that September morning.
Instead of a call to
unite the world with us, 9/11 has instead given America an Attorney General who
sought advice on “legal torture,” an American ambassador to the
UN who despises the world body itself, an intelligence “czar” who
oversaw death squads in Honduras, a Defense Secretary and his Under Secretary
(now the World Bank president) who flipped the one finger salute to the world
and still cannot admit that they turned American foreign policy into one giant
cluster-you-know-what.
But what really
amazed me about the aftermath of 9/11 was the series of immediate and consistent
and attempts by this administration to stop every investigation into the
disaster. Don’t conservatives ever ask themselves why? Thumbs
Up to the Speeding Truck
One of the things
they teach you in psychology is the inherent characteristic of self-preservation
that exists in every creature. Commonly referred to as “fight or flight”,
it’s the primary response of living things in order to protect themselves from
a perceived threat to their survival. Basically it boils down either to
kicking the threat’s butt or getting away from it as fast as possible. Remarkably,
Bush conservatives have managed to replace this very basic survival instinct
with a placebo in the guise of “fair and
balanced” information sources and AM Talk Radio. Their listeners'
intelligence and well-being are assaulted on a daily basis but they feel just
fine. They’re standing in the middle of the road facing a speeding truck
racing into them and they just stand there, smile and give it the thumbs up. How
is this possible?
The recently passed
Bankruptcy bill is a prime example. These happy idiots are waving their flags
‘cause Bush is keeping the terrorists on the run but meanwhile the Republicans
just made it easier for them to lose everything.
Lost your job?
Medical crisis? Home foreclosure while you’re off fighting in
But the speeding
truck threatens more than just their personal well-being; it threatens the very
foundations of the political party they hold so dear.
Put it this way: when
you have Republicans like Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan and Bob Dole
raising warning flags regarding the actions of today’s ultra-right and the
long-term consequences it could have on their party – that should be a wake up call. What
If It Were
That’s another
thing I like to ask Bush Kissers when discussing the overtly bad behavior of
today’s ultra-right wingers. Just how thick would the foam coming from their
mouths be if these same actions were attributed to those dastardly Clintonians?
Just recently at a
conservative gathering in Washington, lawyer-author Edwin Vieira, quoted none
other than Joseph Stalin in regard to their perceived “problem” of the
Reagan appointee, Judge Anthony Kennedy. It would seem that Vieira feels that
Stalin’s philosophy of “no man, no problem” would be an appropriate
response when it comes to judges he feels are out of step with right-wing
ideology. Impeachment just isn’t enough for these people, obviously they
prefer harsher tactics — such as death.
But the most chilling
thing about this little gathering of conservatives is that the audience laughed at the remarks! The same people who found Bush’s
“trifecta” joke after 9/11 funny are now finding humor in the suggested
assassination of federal judges.
In fact, judges are
the latest in a string of targets put forth by Bush Co. in order to keep the
gruel eaters from focusing on things that should trigger their flight or fight
response. Tom DeLay is a classic example with his war on the judiciary in an
attempt to keep people's eyes off his
sleazy doings in the House. But the Republicans have given him a safety net
besides. If DeLay is in danger of being smacked by the Ethics Committee, well
then, we’ll just have to change those rules now, won’t we? And if the
Democrats are going to use the filibuster to keep right-wing judges from getting
an up or down vote, well, we’ll just change those rules too.
And if changing
the rules isn’t enough, well now, we have Senate Majority Leader Frist teaming
up with the religious wing-nuts in a
public awareness campaign to publish ads depicting Democrats as being against
“people of faith.” Even though Bush enjoys a higher acceptance rate of
judicial appointees than his predecessors, the Republicans are calling in the
God Squad in an attempt to get a handful of unqualified ideologues into the
federal courts. God, help us all.
But all this hoopla, as I
stated earlier, is a diversion from the real problems that we face as a country.
Bush’s job approval ratings are in the toilet (45 percent last time I checked)
and they should be. There have been no successes during this administration
which benefit anyone except that
richest one percent of folks so near and dear to the Republicans. Photo-op
elections hide the reality behind the cameras that the administration and the
cooperative media don’t want you to see. While we wage a pretend war on
terrorists or whatever boogey-man is this week’s enemy, a very real war is
being waged and won against America’s working (and non-working) masses. And
yet there are still those among the masses who continue to feed on the
watery-thin GOP gruel while willingly bending over for a spank after spank.
The world and all but
59 million people in this country seem to “get it.” Bush and the ultra-right
are hurting all of us. Even those who support them. Our safety, our stability,
our honor, our credibility and the very foundations established so long ago are
at risk. We are a Republic (some say a Democracy) fast tracking on the way to
becoming a Theocracy. And we join with our neighbors world-wide and wonder when
Just what is it going
to take for some conservatives to wake up? Just how bad do things have to get?
When will they realize what is happening to them, their party and the country
they say they love? And, once and for all, when will they stop asking for
“more?” --posted 04.24.05
God Must be Mad as Hell By W. David Jenkins III I took a little vacation
from Y’know, just when you think the Republicans have gone as low
as they can go, they manage to eke out yet one more example of their audacity. Once again, they've come to the forefront beating
their drums and thumping their chests to play politics with what should have been a personal and private matter. And of course,
they were joined by their cohorts in the ranks of the whacked-out religious right. One of those righteous yahoos happened
to be somebody I’m a little too familiar with. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when local anti-hero
(depending on who you talk to around here) Randall Terry’s mug appeared on the television. Let’s face it, Randy
hasn’t had much exposure lately, not since his wife and church gave him the boot for having an affair a few years back.
Of course, this was shortly after he had put all of his belongings in his wife’s name so he could file for bankruptcy
to avoid paying the multiple fines he’d racked up from his Operation Rescue days. How’s that for “moral
values?” I have to admit, it’s kind of strange seeing him on national
television because I remember Randy when he auditioned for a band I was in twenty-five years ago, back when he was just a
Shaklee “salesman” who played crappy guitar. He tried selling used cars soon after that, which begs the question;
would you buy a religion from this man? Being familiar with Randy’s history as a “local boy”, it kind of
makes me wonder just who these other religious mouthpieces really are. But, I digress. The Terri Schiavo case
became bigger “news” than it ever should have been. Once again the conservative politicos in D.C. managed to turn
a heartbreaking situation into a circus hopefully in order to capitalize politically. GOP aides even circulated a memo to
congressional conservatives stating that sticking their noses into Schiavo’s business would be advantageous for them
with the Cherry Pickin’ Christians because the case was a “great political
issue.” How positively disgusting! Of course, the conservatives are feigning ignorance
about the talking points memo – “Oh, we would never do such a thing!”
Uh-huh, sure guys – since when? Think back to your purple fingers during the State of the Union speech. In a fully transparent effort to pander to the
religious right — seeing as they haven’t a chance just yet in changing the Constitution to ban gay marriage like
they promised — the shameless right wing members discarded any respect for states rights or the rights of the individual
or the rule of law in order to exploit the pain of some family they couldn’t care less about, just to make a political
point. Apparently, state’s rights are all well and fine to these particular conservatives — just as long as those
states in question are in agreement with the far-right ideology that infests D.C. these days. But the Bush kissers out there
couldn’t be happier. Just how do these people live with the outrage
and the hypocrisy? There has got to be more of a reason other than their daily ingestion of Fox “news” or the N.Y. Post. And you can’t just say
that all conservatives or evangelicals are stupid or beyond help or “divorced from reality” (I know, I said it
again) because there are some people out there who are politically conservative and or “born again” who are decent
people at heart. But, for some reason, they’re either incapable or unwilling to come to grips with the fact that not
only have they bet on the wrong horse, and that this mindless religious Republican monster is running in the wrong direction. One of the most glaring
contradictions regarding the Cherry Pickers’ position in all this mess is that they seemed to be denying Ms. Schiavo
the very promise that is the basis of their belief — everlasting life, eternal peace and to be with God. Now, weigh
that against “convalescing” in a nursing home for fifteen years while being unable to independently tend to your
most basic needs. Not to mention that the majority of her bills recently were being paid for by Medicare – one of those
dastardly “entitlement programs” that Tom DeLay and the other Schiavo “supporters” in Congress are
doing their best to destroy. Go figure. Another thing which struck me as strange was
this; aren’t these the same people who are obsessed with preserving the “sanctity of marriage?” The very
same people who are terrified of Bob marrying Ted and Carol marrying Then there was the nut job in So much for the sanctity of life. Of course our alleged “Christian prez”
was willing to interrupt his vacation just long enough to score some political points with his flock before he rushed back
to his “Saving Social Security” B.S. Tour. Kind of makes you wonder why Bush didn’t interrupt another vacation
when he received a PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing) titled “Osama Determined to Strike in the The debacle in Florida looked like a cross between
a sanctified lynch mob and a kind of Aashurah for Christians as they went from flailing
themselves over their losses at the hands of the courts to making threats against those who stood in their way to “save”
a woman who is finally at peace — in spite of their frenzied, much televised efforts. Of course Tom DeLay couldn’t
resist putting himself in further hot water when he stated in the aftermath of Terri’s death that “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.” But that one didn’t
go over too well with his peers in Congress who reminded him (after the polls came out) that threatening a federal judge is
a “no-no.” Then, as if on cue, Sen. John Cornyn opened his
big yapper in an effort to somehow defend the violence against federal judges. To go back and look closely at these gratuitous
examples of “Christians” behaving badly makes one wonder if God is up there looking for a good sturdy switch to
welcome this right-wing brat pack when they end up having to answer to Him/Her someday. I’m not trying to be presumptuous
but I can’t find it written anywhere that hypocrisy, revenge, pandering and threats are examples of righteousness —
even if done in the name of “God.” Makes me think that some of these folks need
to get off the streets and go back into their churches — and stay there for a long, long time. --posted 04.07.05
Right now, on this very night while I take in the quiet warmth and comforting seclusion with my family this holiday season,
somewhere out there is a man far from his loved ones. He wears a hood and his hands are bound behind his back. He lies bruised
and naked in a dark, cold makeshift prison cell. The echoes of his screams still ring in his ears as immeasurable fear overtakes
his very soul.
We don’t know who he is anymore than his family knows where he is. No one knows if he’s guilty of anything nor
does anyone know if he’s just one of those “errors in policy” that Secretary of State Condi Rice referred
so deprecatingly to during her recent trip to Europe . One thing we do know, however, is that the abuse of this man and others
like him is being done in our name – with or without our approval.
Now I’m not so disillusioned to think that the history of this country is not tainted by actions and policies that would
shock the average person. As lofty as the ideals of the founding fathers might have been, we cannot escape the fact that the
genocide of the native people of this land centuries ago was perceived by some to be crucial to attaining those ideals. And
that’s just the beginning. Our country’s history is rife with cruelty coupled with a sense of entitlement as we
marched towards that American Dream.
We have plotted assassinations of leaders we disliked, we’ve dropped an uncountable tonnage of bombs, we’ve helped
to overthrow governments and we have supported dictators, all in the name of democracy or preserving American values. And,
yes, we’ve tortured people. From the “Stress and Duress” practices during the Kennedy administration to
the teachings of the School of the Americas , a center for educating in the ways of torture, this country’s policy makers
have relied on abusive and cruel tactics.
Even the Clinton administration cooperated with the abuse of a close friend of Ramzi Yousef by Philippine officials. Yousef
was the mastermind behind the ’93 WTC bombing who was convicted in 1997. The information attained by one Abdul Hakim
Murad was crucial to the successful prosecution of Yousef. We don’t know what happened to Murad although we can assume
that it wasn’t pretty, but we do know that by selective use of questionable interrogation tactics, Ramzi Yousef is now
serving a life sentence – unlike Osama bin Laden. I guess that’s the crux of the whole torture argument; one more
thing that Bush has botched up at our expense and in our name.
Torture is now an indiscriminate industry under Bush. Rather than the secretive policy practiced by leaders of the past and
administered as a last result upon people who were known to have certain intelligence, we have now adopted practices prone
to gross error upon innocent individuals in a kind of deplorable reenactment of “Soylent Green.” In other words,
we have the “bulldozers” out scooping up people all over the world based upon the fact that they might have intelligence
that could be useful. The prudence of the use of extraordinary rendition is now a thing of the past – Bush has made
it a reckless and blanket policy. Had people been paying attention years ago, they might have seen it coming.
Back in the spring of 2002, I remember a small text box in the NY Times reporting that Bush had withdrawn America ’s
signature from the International Criminal Court on May 6. I remember thinking to myself that this was not a good sign of things
to come. Why on earth would he do such a thing? After all, we had just been attacked about eight months before and had the
cooperation and sympathies of practically the entire world. Why then would we thumb our nose to an international institution
that might aid us in our mutual struggle?
Okay, okay – I was just kidding. I knew damn well what was up. It was a case of CYA (Cover Your A…..) because
this administration knew damn well what policies they were going to implement. To his credit, Bush came right out in the days
after 9/11 to the Rose Garden and told everyone that “we’re not going to tell you everything” and that is
exactly the way they’ve proceeded – even after they get caught.
American leaders are now debating and defending torture during this season of “Peace on Earth, Good Will towards Men”
– I mean it’s all so ghastly. And the most ironic aspect in all of this argument is that those who defend this
abusive policy the loudest are the very same who are fired up over the alleged “war on Christmas.”
There is a photo that was published early on in the invasion. It showed a hooded Iraqi sitting in the desert with his six
year old son sitting on his lap. That image still haunts me to this day because, as the father of a six year old boy myself,
the thought of what that man and that little boy must have been feeling at that time is simply too painful to think about.
I want to know, what ever happened to them?
I want to know if that same dad became that naked and beaten figure in that cold wet cell somewhere far away from that little
boy. I want to know how many more families have been affected by this not so secret and widespread cruelty that our leaders
tell us is for our own good as well as our safety. I want to know how we as a country have become so paranoid and so lost
that we would actually defend such behavior.
And while I cannot seem to get the image of that photo out of my mind, I also cannot seem to get the image of
the boy president furiously ripping off the wrapping paper of his new X-Box 360 on Christmas morning.
God rest ye merry torturers. --posted Jan. 12, 2006Torture
Court
Nominees
Faulty
Intelligence
When I first sat down to write this little rant my calendar read September 11, 2005. Russert was talking to some Deputy Director from L.S.U. having just finished an interview with the mayor of New Orleans and Bush had just concluded some tribute to 9/11 which left me shaking my head in disgust. The juxtaposition of voices and images out of New Orleans and Washington D.C. these last weeks along with the fourth anniversary of 9/11 convinces me that the last four years have been nothing more than a waste of time, money and lives. Quite honestly, I doubt anything is going to change for the better. For the sake of America, I hope I’m wrong.
The last few weeks have been irrefutable proof that America is being wrecked and mismanaged by the most incompetent, dangerous and out of touch boobs ever to obtain power. Any American with even a tiny amount of conscience who watched those images from New Orleans shook their heads with disbelief and shame that something like this should happen within our own borders in these modern times. As pictures of floating corpses glared at us through our TV sets, we were treated to photo-ops of our supposed leader golfing, blithering about Social Security, eating cake and strumming a guitar. Meanwhile, our Secretary of State shopped for shoes and took in a show while the Vice President shopped for a house in a ritzy Maryland neighborhood.
And just as it was four years ago before the smoke had cleared in Southern Manhattan, the Bush people are running from any sense of responsibility or accountability before the waters are gone from New Orleans. Oh sure, I know Bush came out later the same week and assumed responsibility for any short-comings by the federal government, but that ploy was devised to address his pathetic numbers rather than any altruistic intentions. They still shamelessly accuse those who point to the pathetic response of the federal government of playing the “blame game” and “pointing fingers” while they and their media mouthpieces do exactly the same thing when referring to State and Local officials. But there are other unfortunate similarities regarding Bush and Company’s actions that also remind us of what happened four years ago besides their chronic fear of accountability.
There were ignored warnings, budget cuts of defenses or intelligence and, of course, the month long August vacation. When Bush stated on television that nobody could have foreseen that the levees would break, it reminded me of their ridiculous claim four years ago that nobody could’ve foreseen the use of airplanes as missiles. Both remarks have been shown to be ludicrous and irresponsible in light of the facts. And as much as they played down the toxic air surrounding Ground Zero during the clean up, the Bush administration is avoiding the fact that the waters which swallowed up New Orleans - and still remain - are a poisonous “witch’s brew” which will leave much of the area uninhabitable for years.
Yet the most disturbing similarity between 9/11 and the aftermath of Katrina is Bush’s outright refusal to examine the obvious mistakes made by his administration. The day before he was to address the country about all things Katrina, the Republicans in the Senate saw to it that there would be no independent investigation. Just as Bush fought tooth and nail to stone-wall any independent investigation into the events of 9/11, he has now declared that he himself will conduct an inquiry into what “mistakes were made.” Excuse me, but that is as absurd as allowing the Department of Defense “investigate” what happened at Abu Ghraib and we all know what a white-wash that turned out to be. Allow me to get a tad personal.
Sorry, George, but nobody with any brain wave activity has any confidence that you’ll get to the bottom of this. Hell, aren’t you still looking for the source of the CIA leak in your own White House? You said you’d get to the bottom of that one too. Face it, George, most of us just don’t believe you anymore. And quite frankly, I don’t believe most of us believed you long before this latest cataclysmic failure went down. You lied about what you knew before 9/11, you lied about Iraq and now you’re lying about Katrina and all you plan to do to fix things. The reality is that the only things you truly wish to fix are your abysmal approval ratings. You’ve even had to call on the wife to label your critics “disgusting.” You want to know what disgusting is, Georgie - Boy?
Your Mama. That’s right, your Mama. That same silver-haired, callous witch who didn’t want to trouble her “beautiful mind” with all the deaths in Iraq you’re responsible for, actually hauled off and said that the victims of Katrina were better off now because, after all, they were “underprivileged” before the hurricane left them homeless. Things are working out “quite well” for these people, according to your detached and arrogant mother. Of course, the thought that they may stay in Texas “scares her.” Good God, George, no wonder your Dad is such a wimp and you’re such a spectacular failure! Freud would have had a field day with the lot of you. And your comments over the weeks haven’t been much better!
You say you can’t wait to sit on Trent Lott’s new porch? You asked Nancy Pelosi “what didn’t go right?” You think anybody took comfort as you reminisced that you used to get snow blind and blasted out of your mind in New Orleans shortly before you stole the presidency? You really think “Brownie did a heck of a job?” Why do I think that you would have any sense of decency about this catastrophe after I saw you joke about not finding any WMD’s at a Press Club dinner a few years ago? I swear by all that is decent and right, you and your ilk are an embarrassment to this country that is unparalleled.
You willingly and strategically reduced FEMA to less than a shadow of what it had become under Clinton. You placed people woefully unqualified to run the joint and now you wonder why you look like such an ass. You actually ate cake while the corpses of infants floated down the streets of New Orleans and you wonder why your ratings are so low that they need a ladder to see over the gutter. You upped your record of incompetence by waiting five days to take action rather than the almost thirty minutes you sat on your backside the morning of 9/11. Face it, George; you positively stink in a crisis situation.
And has it dawned on you or any of your blind and blithering supporters that Katrina proves that we are no more “safe” than we were before 9/11? You all had days to prepare and you still screwed up. Sure, the state and local officials had the same amount of time as you did, but anybody not suffering from cranial damage knows that in a crisis of this magnitude, state and local government are going to be overwhelmed and incapable to provide the relief that needs to be provided. That’s why we have FEMA. Or at least we did until you screwed everything up. Yes you.
While you were out invading countries that posed no threat to us, looking for weapons that you lied about and chastising those who knew you were lying, you allowed our homeland to become even more unsecured than it was before that day in September four years ago. You have blessed us with more enemies than we ever had, squandered away our wealth and told the rest of the world to piss off while you and your friends got rich off of America’s fears and apathy which you exploited.
And now, in the aftermath of the greatest disaster to hit America (other than you), you once again tell the world to go to hell. Your administration delayed Canadian efforts, turned away German efforts and ignored Russian, Cuban and Venezuelan efforts to assist us in our time of need. Exactly what is the problem with you people? Brownie gave an interview to the NY Times printed Thursday morning where he tried to blame Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco for the catastrophe yet, at the same time made it clear that, due to his actions and communications, the White House knew very early that things were falling apart in New Orleans – and did nothing. Now we must ask again just as we asked after 9/11; who gave the stand down order? Who decided not to act and why?
Anyway, Brownie is now gone after doing “one heck of a job” and with your numbers lower than even Herbert Hoover, you’ve had no choice but to except some responsibility. Damn, that must’ve killed you. Well, then again, maybe not seeing as it was only the last resort in order to somehow improve your image. Maybe it’ll work and maybe it won’t. Much of that will depend upon the media and whether acting like journalists for the first time in over a decade scared them or made them feel credible for a change.
Another deciding factor will be if the Democrats finally recognize that the carpet isn’t going to get any redder and that being a member of the opposition isn’t going to get any easier. Of course, this is contingent upon the realization that they are supposed to be the opposition! I don’t know, I’ve had to turn off the “Caress-Fest” of John Roberts on C-SPAN 3 so I don’t mess the rug. Let’s put it this way, other than a handful of Democrats, I don’t have much hope. Sorry, but they’ve been horribly disappointing for far too many years.
Here’s the thing. Just like the aftermath of 9/11, the Bush administration is more involved in damage control rather than correcting the damage. They don’t want any “independent” investigation into what happened (which strikes me as odd – why not just put Philip D. Zelikow in charge like they did with “independent” 9/11 commission? That way they could white-wash this investigation too?). Bush has spent the time since 9/11 weakening our homeland security and making more enemies. He has depleted our resources in money and lives in his quest to be allowed to sit next to Pappy Bush at the next family Thanksgiving dinner. And in New Orleans, just like Iraq, we are reading some familiar names that promise to help “fix” everything. Halliburton, KBR, Blackstone and other “family businesses” are moving into yet another Bush created disaster zone. That’s right, a Bush created disaster zone, dammit!
He weakened the defense for New Orleans ‘cause the rich needed tax cuts and Iraq needed money that we didn’t have, he appointed pals to head FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security who had zero experience for the job, he ignored warnings from experts (just like 9/11), and when the stuff hit the fan – he sat on his ass. Plain and simple. Now he’s looking for a bullhorn moment, but that time has come and gone. And the perfectly awful speech he gave on the 15th didn’t do much except to anger the extremists in the Republican party who just don’t feel like rebuilding New Orleans – as if Bush really meant what he said. So George has one option left.
Being that Katrina originated in the Bahamas, it only makes sense that we invade Cuba. Because if the terrorists ever got their hands on a hurricane…….. --posted September 17, 2005Sibel
Edmonds – An Appeal to the Internet Community
By W. David
Jenkins III
more Lost In America
Jenkins-DeHart Series On Bush And Fascism
The views expressed are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bush Watch.